New depot includes technology, comfort and coffee

Gentle beeps accompany flashing yellow lights that peek out just above the pavement at the new WRTA hub at 60 Foster St.

Intended to assist people with disabilities, the automated duet of sound and light will help guide pedestrians and alert bus drivers at the transportation center. There's even a strip carved out through the walkway to help blind riders get to where they are going.

Wires and antennae hung from the rafters on a recent afternoon as contractors chased down final details ahead of the hub's June 1 opening. Buses coming into the terminal will be mined for location, ridership and route data, which will be transmitted to the administration and the public.

Off to the rear of the platform is a large device hanging from overhead that will eventually provide a charge for electric buses. All the high-tech features put the WRTA on par with much larger public transit networks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, said Chris Hamman, a technology consultant working with the WRTA.

“I like to think we're ahead of the MBTA, too,” Mr. Hamman said.

The technology is state of the art, but the very existence of a public transportation hub in the city is a pretty new concept, too. No longer will crowds of riders have to sit out in bad weather on Main Street across the street from City Hall, braving the elements or hopping over snowbanks. They won't have to dash across Main Street after getting off for a transfer at City Hall.

Once they get off at the new, $16.4 million facility, they will be able to either check their phones or one of several screens and signs at the gleaming new hub to get real-time updates on routes. They will be able to go inside and get a coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, or just sit and wait. There are public restrooms. There will be terminals on the platform or inside the hub to add money to Charlie Cards. Staff at a customer service window will be available.

“For the first time for the WRTA there's a place for people to get out of the elements,” said WRTA Administrator Stephen F. O'Neil. “They can go inside.”

Mr. O'Neil said the new building represents a “new chapter, a new page,” in the history of the organization, which serves around 3.7 million riders annually.

The shift to the new hub brings together administrative, customer service and paratransit operations into one place. It does not mean the front of City Hall will be devoid of bus activity, however.

According to the WRTA, beginning June 1, the authority will be moving all bus departures to the new hub. The WRTA administrative office, currently located at 287 Grove St., and the customer service center currently located at 317 Main St., will be moving to the new facility. For example, Mr. O'Neill said, a student from Quinsigamond Community College coming downtown on a bus and looking to transfer to a bus to the Auburn Mall will go through the new hub. A rider on a bus that happens to have stops on Franklin or Front streets will continue to get off at City Hall, Mr. O'Neil said. An average of around 15,000 passengers is expected to pass through the hub daily, he noted.

The building has connections to the parking lot of Union Station, and by extension, the Union Station parking garage. Since the Blackstone River Bikeway is planned to eventually extend all the way to Union Station area, there is a large bike rack outside, complete with an air pump bolted to the floor. There are benches with large metal hoops every foot or two to discourage people from sleeping on them, Mr. O'Neil said.

There has been some discussion as construction has progressed about the building's aesthetics. Panned by some as ugly, Mr. O'Neil defended its looks, and said the design has grown on him. He noted that the brickwork is intended to mimic the brickwork on the side of Union Station, and said he felt like the building fits as sort of a transition from the “innovation district” buildings at CitySquare to the historic majesty of Union Station.

There is certainly plenty of glass, and views from either of the building's two towers afford a picture-frame like look at downtown landmarks such as Washington Square. Mesh runs up the exterior of the towers; ivy planted below will eventually follow it up the side of the building. Photovoltaic cells line the roofs of the bus platform; the electricity generated by the solar panels will be fed back into the grid and the WRTA will receive credits, Mr. O'Neil said.

A ceremony Tuesday morning will mark the grand opening of the transportation hub; before the hub's actual activation June 1, staff will be at City Hall stops in the meantime doing public outreach to make sure riders understand the changes, Mr. O'Neil said.

Thomas J. Coyne, WRTA assistant administrator, said riders should speak up if they are confused about what buses will be going through the new hub.